[Closed] Carb Loading

As I recall Carb loading should be done over a seven day period.

I've never bothered carb loading though.

Don't eat tons of pasta, your body won't cope.

I'd suggest carb-y snacks all week, personally. Also drink carby things. I don't think it matters what kind of carbs - if your muscle glycogen stores are low, then a sugary drink and consequent insulin spike will just help get the sugar from your belly into your muscles. I find this approach works well - bag of jelly babies on the desk, that sort of thing. Plus normal carby meals like pasta etc - but don't go bonkers. And stop when you feel well-fuelled, if you can work out when that is 🙂

However I'm a software engineer not a physiologist, biologist, coach or nutritionist 🙂 So the above is just what I've gathered from reading around and experimenting...

your body won't cope.

do you die ?

Abother school of thought is that for endurance events you should go low carb in days 7-3 before the event (this will help you not to gain weight in the taper, and encourage your body to be more willing to burn fat as fuel), and carb up only during the last two days. Personally I go for rice rather than pasta/bread.

do you die ?

No, you might get all bloated and lethargic, and have a crap ride/race whatever when it comes to it. At least, that's what happens to me and I have the constitution of an ox typically.

[i]Also what foods will be best for during the event? I am going to mostly eat cake i think.[/i]

Sounds good.
Eat whatever you're stomach and taste buds are happy with. No doubt there are zillions of energy gels that are far more effective, but if you haven't checked beforehand how your body copes with them for 20 hours solid, saturday's not the best time to find out 🙂

No, you might get all bloated and lethargic

I've been carb loading for 40 years without that happening 🙂

Happens to me if I carb load the night before with a few pints of bitter 🙂

If you are walking, cake is fine I reckon.

excuse my ignorance, is this going to be particularly carb heavy in terms of energy expenditure? I understand that it's not normal activity, but at walking/gentle running rates would you necessarily need to carbo-load? Could you not keep up with requirements as you go along.

It would mean you wouldn't have to break from your diet.

You are walking 100k. Ditch the diet, you aren't going to get fat in a week, especially not one with 20+ hours of excercise at the end. Your biggest problem will be what you eat after the event. Don't binge on junk. Prepare healthy (recovery) food in advance.

I'm not sure if I benefit from either but carb loading the day/night before just makes me feel bloated for the event. I prefer to eat a little more than normal through the week and then have a normal diet the day before. Sometimes I alternate mid day and evening meals so my lunch is large and the evening meal small. I normally just have the carbs I was going to eat but a bit more. Occasional bottle of energy drink too. Hydration is probably more important

I ormally end up feeling sick towards the end of events if I've been pushing myself but the above did help stop this.

I think I will need to break the diet on Thursday and Friday just to make sure I am feeling fighting fit for Saturday

Walking is not carb intensive, even gentle running is I reckon, if done for a few miles.

Ok, the thing is the first checkpoint where we will be able to pick up food will be after 30k.

I will have been on a diet of no bread, rice, pasta, or potatoes for nearly two weeks.

While I agree that I should be able to eat the carbs as quick as I am using them what I am asking is what will best prepare me for a day of running up and down hills?

Ideally I dont want to be carrying food with me at the start, I want to be able to make it as far as the 30k checkpoint where food will be waiting for me, and on the diet I dont think I woud have that energy. On the flip side the half a stone or so I now weigh less than in the training runs will surely help my feet hold up and help me get round quicker.

If you already know of carby foods that work for you on the trail then stick to them. Probably best to keep a supply of both simple and complex carbs though.

If you're walking/trekking/running 100k in 20hrs then can I assume you've done some long rides in the past? If so, how did you prepare for them? What helped you perform the best?

Carbing up doesn't seem to work for me - or perhaps I haven't done it properly. What I do know is that I have a favourite breakfast that does work, and I know what food/energy drink to take.

We're all unique in some way, so by all means see what everyone else recommends. Personally I'd stick pretty much to anything I know to have worked in the past, and just take more of it on the day.

BTW, the hills along the SDW are an absolute ****er in parts. And if it's hot, then rather you than me.

While I agree that I should be able to eat the carbs as quick as I am using them

Not necessarily. You can only absorb whatever it is, 1g/kg body weight/hour, and you could easily deplete your stores faster than that depending on how much running you are doing.

You can only absorb whatever it is, 1g/kg body weight/hour

have you got a reference for this ? It only comes out to 400 kCal/h for a chunky 100kg bloke, which is 466 watts or ~ 100W mechanical output, which isn't much. I'm not saying it's wrong, but when I searched I couldn't find any figures...

I've been told this by my coach, and I also found some references to it when googling since I couldn't remember the figure..
http://www.poweringmuscles.com/article.php?id=61
http://www.edinburghtri.org/training/7-ironman-how-much-to-eat-and-drink.html

Those links don't mention specific figures per kg body weight, just guideline figures which are effectively similar.

And yes, this does only equate to 3-400 kcal/hour of carbs consumed, and you use a lot more.. which is one reason why we get tired! 🙂 Whilst riding you'll be using stored fat (maybe down to 30-40% of total energy expenditure), glycogen stored in your muscles, liver and blood, and the carbs that you eat during the ride.

When doing 24hr solo races and suchlike, the aim is to keep your pace low enough so that the food you can eat + the fat you can burn + your available carb stores = the energy you're expending.. otherwise you'll bonk.

Given your bodies insulin response to metabolise carbs, I'm personally struggling to see how carb loading more than 24 hours in advance will make any difference.

Can someone explain how Glycogen produced up to 6 days prior to it being needed [i]isn't[/i] metabolised to fat for storage?

EDIT: that last bit makes it sound like a challenge - Its not. I don't understand how this mechanism would work - but I'm not a molecular biologist.

I've been having similar thoughts as I'm on the "idave diet" and am doing the bonty 24/12 in a couple of weeks. I'm doing a 12hr pairs race.

As i've been eating lots of beans and veg i don't think i'll be too depleted of carbs - and i have been bike training as per usual and feel totally fine. (although have only been doing intervals and shorter rides, nothing over 2 yrs).

My plan is to eat some pasta the night before the race, then porridge on race day morning, then normal race food, and then a recovery drink and back on the diet afterwards. If I feel terrible i might have some other non-diet food, but i suspect it'll be fine.

Ok so I ditched the diet on Thursday and Friday and loaded up on pasta, rice, etc. Then on the day had cakes, sandwiches, lucozade and I made it to the end in 20 hours and 45 minutes.

I had a few pints and a takeaway to celebrate getting round and depite being off the diet for 4 days my weight stayed the same. I reckon after I get back on the diet and the dust settles I will have lost 4 or 5 extra pounds.